17 All-Star Villa Agencies

17 All-Star Villa Agencies

April 15, 2011

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Across Europe

Abercrombie & Kent Villas

Five decades of experience as a luxury travel operator has given A&K a healthy head start with its 200-property villa-rental offshoot, which launched in 2009.Best For: Excursions; local staff; user-friendly websiteWhat We Love: Rentals can include the on-point services that have helped make A&K famous: customized itineraries; wine tastings; cooking classes.Properties From: $3,000 a weekStandout Rental: C’Awanui, a four-bedroom villa in Majorca whose 32-foot-long swimming pool has views of cypress-lined hilltops ($8,765 a week). 800/652-8413; akvillas.com.

Beautiful Places

While the Sonoma, California–based agency is known for its far-flung properties, its current agenda is to offer more value-oriented options.Best For: Flexible minimum stays; special eventsWhat We Love: The events the company can create or access: Ferrari race-car driving, costume balls in French châteaux, even a party where guests blend their own barrels of Bordeaux wine (later shipped back to the States).Properties From: $5,925 a weekStandout Rental: A restored six-bedroom stone farmhouse just 40 minutes’ drive from the Tuscan wine capital, Montepulciano ($11,250 a week). 800/495-9961; beautiful-places.com.

Carpe Diem Luxury Travel

The 25 properties Marina Gratsos represents all belong to people in her social network. After a telephone interview or brief e-mail exchange, you’ll receive password-protected links to suitable properties’ websites.Best For: Local connections; over-the-top servicesWhat We Love: Those looking for privacy and discretion will find it here.Properties From: $22,500 a weekStandout Rental: A hilltop palazzo in Umbria with 12 bedrooms whose staff will organize hunts for truffles or even wild boar ($42,618 a week). 44-20/7402-5330; carpediemtravel.co.uk.

Dream&Charme

A list of about 500 properties includes pricier Dream castles, villas,
and yachts, as well as relatively affordable Charme properties in France, Greece, Italy, Spain, and Switzerland.

Best For: Travel servicesWhat We Love: The Milan-based company is also a travel agency, offering one-stop shopping for plane tickets and car rentals.Properties From: $7,000 a weekStandout Rental: Charme’s two-bedroom mountainside chalet in the South Tyrolean region of Trentino Alto Adige, with a retractable drawbridge to keep out unwanted guests ($11,680 a week). 39-02/8050-3457; dreamcharme.com.

LaCure Villas

The company’s approximately 1,000 properties are especially strong across Italy, France, and the Caribbean.Best For: ExclusivesWhat We Love: LaCure’s zealously guarded private portfolio is not just for over-the-top properties; owners of reasonable midrange rentals also prefer to keep their places out of the public eye.Properties From: $4,000 a weekStandout Rental: Listings include a former hunting lodge with six bedrooms in Tuscany that was once owned by the Medici family ($51,528 a week). 800/387-2726; lacurevillas.com.

Luxury Lifestyle Management

Even if your budget is modest, owner Maria Salazar will likely find
the best possible option for your dollar among her 2,000 or so rentals. Her favorite values right now: the Azores and Greece.Best For: Emerging destinationsWhat We Love: Salazar deftly steers clients away from “outrageous”
high-season rentals in favor of secret shoulder-season deals. She also offers frank advice about the true costs of the trip.Properties From: $2,800 a weekStandout Rental: The 4,305-square-foot, four-bedroom Quinta das Oliveira, with panoramic views of the Algarve coast and the Atlantic—not to mention easy access to Vilamoura Golf Course ($8,425 a week). 866/293-9061; dreamexoticrentals.com.

Private World

The agency aims to represent only the two or three finest villas in its destinations (currently 140 properties in 70 countries), handpicking them for privacy, style, and individuality.Best For: Exclusives; local staffWhat We Love: All properties are fully staffed and include a local guide and concierge services.Properties From: $35,500 a weekStandout Rental: A 10,000-square-foot, six-bedroom town house right on Hyde Park. The open-air rooftop living room is divine ($70,700 a week). 44-20/7723-5599; privateworldvillas.com.

Unique Properties & Events

Each of the 80 properties—in France, Greece, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, and, later this year, Corsica—includes private concierge service and a local host.Best For: Special excursions; exclusivesWhat We Love: The company is equally known for the “events” portion of its name (a tasting of rare wines in Tuscany; access to private yachts during the St.-Tropez regatta).Properties From: $14,000 a weekStandout Rental: A five-room travertine palazzo in Cortona, Italy, surrounded by ancient olive trees ($36,231 a week). 44-20/7788-7815; cedricreversade.com.

France

Hosted Villas (formerly HomesAway)

Each of the 125 properties comes with a host who will greet you and help tailor an itinerary as relaxed or intricate as you’d like. The company rents properties in Croatia, France, Italy, Scotland, Spain, Argentina,
and Turks and Caicos.Best For: Local staffWhat We Love: Booking promotions, such as a recent offer for $500 toward a chef’s services in an ivy-covered château in the Dordogne.Properties From: $12,000 a weekStandout Rental: Le Jardin, a spacious eight-bedroom manor in the
Côtes du Rhône wine region, with a shady terrace and Provençal antiques. ($13,400 a week). 800/374-6637; hostedvillas.com.

Ville et Village

Carolyn Grote has a sleuth’s knowledge of both the 250 properties she offers and the towns they’re in (how long it takes to walk there; how good the market is). Listings also include Italian options.Best For: Local connectionsWhat We Love: Ville et Village is straight with clients, warning when authenticity means no window screens, no microwave, or a gravel patio.Properties From: $1,250 a weekStandout Rental: A restored three-bedroom farmhouse in the Vaucluse with its own lavender field and views of Mont Ventoux ($3,938 a week). 510/559-8080; villeetvillage.com.

Italy

The Best in Italy

Many of the 80 gems offered by Florence-based Countess Simonetta Brandolini d’Adda are owned by her friends. She has visited all the properties and regularly spends the night, so you know they’re up to her very high standards.Best For: Exclusives; local connectionsWhat We Love: Want to taste wine with the owners of Antinori or Frescobaldi, or meet the jockeys behind the scenes at the palio in Siena? The countess can make it happen.Properties From: $11,326 a weekStandout Rental: A 16th-century manor with five bedrooms built by the bishop of Fiesole ($20,000 a week). 39-055/223-064; thebestinitaly.com.

Think Sicily

This group’s 93 listings are pure fantasy. Strict standards ensure that every villa is of the highest quality—with prices to match.Best For: Exclusives; regional expertise; special excursionsWhat We Love: Unique outings, such as helicopter flights over Mount Etna, wine-tasting trips, and in-villa spa treatments. In 2009 the company launched Think Puglia, with a handful of properties on the fashionable Salentine Peninsula.Properties From: $2,600 a weekStandout Rental: Don Arcangelo all’Olmo, a 12-bedroom manor in the countryside between the sea and Mount Etna (from $21,410 a week). 800/490-1107; thinksicily.com.

United kingdom

Suzanne B. Cohen & Associates

The firm’s specialists thoroughly interview all
potential clients before steering them to any of their
395 cottages and manor houses. Additional listings include Italian options.Best For: Attentive serviceWhat We Love: Every property is managed by the same exacting company, so you can expect consistency.Properties From: $1,130 a weekStandout Rental: The Gates, a three-bedroom, stone-walled house in the village of Castle Combe, near the Cotswolds ($2,040 a week). 207/622-0743; villaeurope.com.

Greece

Aqualiving

Aqualiving specializes in Mykonos and its sister islands of Antiparos
and Paros. Its on-island headquarters means you’ll get easy access to the local staff. The 80 listings also cover Santorini, Tínos, and Kea.Best For: Local staff; regional expertiseWhat We Love: The company’s own catering service, Aquafusion (mykonoschefs.com), ensures a stellar roster of private chefs for its villas.Properties From: $5,687 a weekStandout Rental: The five-bedroom, Cycladic-style Magic Garden, in Mykonos, whose entire second floor is dedicated to the master bedroom and its terrace ($17,717 a week). 44-20/7060-6244; mykonosvillas.com.

White Key Villas

The Athens-based owners focus only on properties they believe are in prime destinations, from the golden beaches of Halkidiki to cosmopolitan Santorini. All 112 retreats are beachfront or have sea views.Best For: Superb locations;
local staffWhat We Love: A concierge
is always available, and on-site requests (a fully stocked fridge; personal-training sessions; private security detail—you name it) are encouraged.Properties From: $10,000 a weekStandout Rental: Villa Jade, a minimalist villa with five bedrooms on its own small bay in Kardamili ($23,100
a week). 30-210/721-5530; whitekeyvillas.com.

Spain

Spain Select

This Madrid-based company’s 80 villas and 200 apartments are located all over the country, from Catalonia to the Balearics.Best For: User-friendly websiteWhat We Love: Searching online is easy with the aid of categories.Properties From: $1,203 a weekStandout Rental: An eight-bedroom house on the Cap de Creus peninsula, near the Costa Brava; it has views of Salvador Dalí’s house ($23,650 a week). 34/91-523-7451; spain-select.com.

Croatia

Croatian Villas

This nine-year-old company’s 350 villas represent
the lion’s share of the growing market in Croatia; it also has listings in Bosnia, Montenegro, and Slovenia.Best For: Flexible minimum stays; emerging destinationsWhat We Love: The staff can arrange local transportation and guides.Properties From: $780 a weekStandout Rental: A one-bedroom apartment in Korčula’s Old Town with an ancient Roman column
that was uncovered during a recent renovation
($780 a week). 44-20/8888-6655; croatianvillas.com.

Pricing: Weekly rate listings are for
high season; prices often
drop significantly in low season.